Welcome to Alan's Internet-Music (iMusic) Album. I thank God for giving me this love for music, performing and a complementing thick skin. Diary of my stay in Edinburgh and the influence of music in my life.
Is this supposed to be the long awaited Longhorn? To be honest, I couldnt be bothered. Engadget covered the launch event. It's nothing compared to when Steve Jobs launched the Apple iPhone few weeks back. Looking at Vista's screenshots, couldnt help but notice that it's so Mac OS like with all the aqua feel and colour:)) They even have these small apps called gadgets, which sounds suspiciously familiar like the widgets in Mac's dashboard. 3D window frames. Nice eye-candy but again, doesnt really float my boat. More photos of Vista (waste-ta-time) here.
Just to share my workload this semester. Quite crazy and yet somehow, I don't really mind and kinda enjoy the challenge. In fact, I looked so relaxed that church friends seemed to think I have no work and am pretty free, which isnt really good:))
Taking 3 subjects this semester, Multi Agent Semantic Web (MASW), Querying and Storing XML (QSX), and Topics in Distributed Databases (TDD). The fun part is that all three subjects is quite tightly coupled. The common unifying factor? XML, XML, XML. In fact the QSX and TDD are taught by the same Professor, who is also incidentally my supervisor for my dissertation. So guess what's project is about:P Maintaining XML views:P
QSX and TDD are non-exam subjects. Easy, you say? Not really. For these two topics, I need to read 5 research papers each week and write a review for each of them. It's good training really. Used to find it tough to maintain concentration in reading these papers, which sometimes (most of the time) can be quite dry. I've also developed some techniques in reading them:P Will start to catch the main points while reading the first time. Then using these points, I'll write the review, referring back to the document only when needed.
The annoying thing about all these is that I seemed to have developed a huge appetite when I'm working. Mouth always itching for something to eat quite often. Just finished eating 1/2 a butter scone bought from tesco, spread with Nutella chocolate jam. 2 hours after dinner!! Must go gym consistently still:))
I normally don post pics of the stuff I cook cause I think there are other better blogs on that:) This time, I have make an exception cause I think I've just outdone myself this time:)) Introducing Penne Haggis Carbonara. Yup, decided to make an unconventional pasta dish by using Haggis as the meat in my Carbonara instead of the usual bacon or meatball. With a bit of mixed vege, Carbonara sauce of course, cheese and herbs & spices, it tastes really good. Wanted to eat some potatoes as well but was too lazy to peel. So bought a packet of potato chips and pop them into the oven for 20 mins. How much for 3 days (6 meals) worth of pasta? £5. I'm beginning to see the satisfaction of cooking your own meals. Gordon or Jamie, if you wanna know more about this meal, just leave a comment:P
It's quite weird to be watching on Top Gear on an actual television since for more than 2 years, I've been watching on my computer. I think watching the show with Altec Lansing speakers is much better:P Have to say, this is quite an emotional episode cause to see Richard Hammond still alive and well after that horrific crash is just amazing. Almost cried... on Top Gear???!!!! Stranger things have happened before, I suppose.
But it was also a great episode. Jamie Oliver was absolutely fantastic as the Star-In-A-Reasonably-Priced-Car. The comparison between the Jag XKR and the Aston Martin Vantage V8 was nicely shot. The guys managed to re-surface a piece of road within 24 hours than a week. Of course, the finale was when they showed footages of the 300+mph Vampire that Richard drove before the crash and the crash itself. Is it worth putting someone's live through so much risk for entertainment? Dont think I'm qualified to answer that question. Top Gear has reconstructed the accident digitally based on the telemetry. Amazing and yet scary at the same time.
When I found out I was coming to England, one of the things I really looked forward to was watching Top Gear at 8pm on Sundays. Unfortunately, due to Hammond's horrific crash, it wasnt to be and watching Fifth Gear is such a lame thing to do. But this Sunday, it's gonna change:) Top Gear's back!! Here's a snippet of what they're gonna do:) Hopefully can still get someone with BT access to download it:P
Taken from Top Gear's new blog, this is what Prof Sid Watkins, one of the world's top brain surgeons, and the president of the FIA Institute for Motorsport Safety, said about Michael Schumacher:
"The calmest response I ever had at an accident was from Michael Schumacher, when he crashed at Silverstone in '99. I got to him really quickly after the accident - it was a first lap accident and my car was behind the pack. So I think it was about 86 seconds after the impact, I was there. Michael had taken his helmet off, and as he saw me running toward him he said 'it's alright Sid, it's only a broken leg.'
"Then we hauled him out of the car, I was putting splints on his broken leg and attaching that to his good leg, and he sort of sat up a bit and said, 'Sid, will you do two things for me?' I said yes.
"He said, 'One - ring my wife and tell her it's only a broken leg, and two - tell Jean Todt to test the brakes on Eddie Irvine's car, because it was a brake failure.' I mean, you can't get cooler than that."
The guy can still think so calmly after an accident that just broke his leg...Wow!!!
If one has $280 to spare, he/she should really get this vacuum. Remote control, NASCAR-themed, looks quite cool and probably quite powerful. Know quite a bit about vacuums now cause my Christian Fellowship leader is quite a cleanliness freak and we've just bought him a Black and Dekker handheld 12V 35W vacuum. Very nice to play with. So now, every time we go to his house, we would purposely throw some crumbs on the carpet just to use the vacuum:))
In about exactly a month's time, I shall set foot on my adopted motherland, the land of coolness! The land that has given us fine supercars (Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti). The land that has given us excellent actors (Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino (all Godfathers:P)). Did I mention great food as well? Yup, Rome and Florence here I come. Going with four other friends. Unfortunately, I wont be able to drop Maranello for a cup of tea with Jean Todt and his new assistant, some guy called Schumacher or something (I think he's German). I suppose, I can do it when I'm ready to buy my first Ferrari (by then it'll probably be Ferrari 1000099 (current models are 430, 599 and 612)). I'll carry on my wishful thinking and then get back to studying XML, RDF, Web Services etc.
Wish I could say this anagram thing was my original idea (which would be quite disturbing) but it isnt (Thank God). Got the idea from itv-f1's Gravel Trap (F1 Jokes) article on Adrian Sutil (which can be translated to Staid Urinal:))
Fernando Alonso? Find out yourself:P It's quite bad as well. Hint: Look for the synonym for "touch":))
Just give these two young chaps a fast and reliable car and the tifosi will be celebrating again this year after a two-year drought. Cant wait for the F1 season to start again in March!
Such a sleek and beautiful looking device, it can only come from Apple. It's the Apple iPhone that comes with a full touch screen, built-in iPod (basically means mp3 + video player), motion sensors to detect portrait landscape mode. It even detects when the phone is brought to the ears and automatically reduce the display brightness and reduce the touch screen sensitivity so that users wont accidentally end the call while on the phone. Nice! But the nice part is that it runs OS X or at least a minimized version of it. Pretty cool (for a geek at least:P). Available only in US. Will be available in Europe in Q4 2007 and Asia, 2008. Just in time when my current O2 contract ends:) Summary of its features at Macrumors.
Leng Chye just told me he went to try shooting (real guns! real bullets!) at City Square Shooting Gallery. Only RM100 for 50 bullets. So cool! Must try it next time I go back Malaysia.
I know it's a bit weird but here's another song I've recorded that is originally sung by a female singer. This time it's 担心（Dan Xin) by 陈洁仪 (Kit Chan)
Apologies that the conversion by youtube isnt that good. The syncing between video and audio is a bit problematic. Can download the full version here.
As you've probably noticed by now, I've gotten a haircut:P I wanted to keep it like for a year but I just cannot stand it. I've only managed to maintain it for 4 months. (this sounds even more girlish, so I shall stop talking about this anymore:P) G Bm 我的你总是迟疑 C D7 连吻别也要隔著玻璃 G Bm E 我的你在我指缝间远离去 --- C D 这城市太过拥挤 Bm E 满座的爱情电影 C D 我用力推不开回忆 --- G 担心你的担心 C 怕你将我想起 Bm Em 在那微寒的夜寂寞来寻 C D 最好是屏住你的呼吸 G G/B 哦...担心我的担心 C 你就这样放心 Bm Em 我却如此愿意竟然愿意 C D 用白天用黑夜 G 用思念拥著你
It's been a great month! Just relaxing, waking up late, watch shows (Mythbusters (all geeks and non-geeks would love this show!) and Guess Guess Guess (Taiwan variety show hosted by Jacky Wu, darn funny!). First Christmas and New Year celebrated outside Malaysia. Wow... just the thought of it and the journey the Lord has brought me along these past years... quite overwhelming.. The sense of gratitude to God, my family, my cell members in Malaysia, friends in Malaysia, in UK and in Edinburgh. I really do feel so blessed.
Just a quick update on what I did during Christmas and New Year. Spent 6 days in South of England (Cambridge, Reading, Didcot and London) with my MMU buddies and chums. Went down on the 23rd Dec. The amazing thing was that I didnt sleep at all the previous night. Guess what I did? I actually played Mah Jong!!! Yes. Of all things to pick up in UK, the last I expected was Mah jong but somehow I did. And I learned it from these kids who are like 2-3 years younger than me!! Except 1 guy la...my fellowship leader whereby the word young would be an understatement when used to describe him:P
Anyway, I'm digressing. Just played monopoly, poker, Risk (Lord of the Rings version, so darn complicated since you have know the middle-earth map instead of the world map), tai di and bridge (this is another new game I've learned, very very addictive and so fun). Guess, life in UK is mostly about indoors, so you really gotta learn to love indoor games, board and card based (it's not the end of this story yet, btw:P). Helped Chuan to cook a roast duck as well:
Noticed the end product on the table. Edible and not too bad. Receipe was given by Chuan (long haired gay guy on my left in the photo)'s friend who owns a restaurant in Cambridge.
Did some shopping in Reading in London as well. Bought a big bag pack (70+10 litre), 2 new shirts from NEXT and a new windproof/waterproof/heat-containing jacket, which surprising comes with a secret function:
Oh yes! It makes nice sound effects for kung fu moves. As you can see, when Siow Yuen (our host in Reading) held her digicam in video mode, I was "obliged" to do a demo:P More photos here.
Had some duck and char siew at London Chinatown day after boxing day. Photo taken by Shirley Ong, whose camera obviously have some problem since it made everyone in the photo look fatter than normal:))
Went back to Edinburgh to celebrate New Year. Attended this year's Torchlight Procession, a yearly Edinburgh celebration. If you're in Edinburgh on 29 Dec, you must attend this! Everyone will meet at the Parliament Square near Royal Mile. You can buy torches for £5 each (it's for charity) and everyone will start walking down the Mound, along Princess Street towards Carlton Hill. Then a small (and I mean really small) Viking ship will be set on fire. They'll also set fire to a bear (not a real one la, it's made of straw, I think). Then fireworks willl be set off. Wow, it's quite a view to see fireworks from really close by. Nice!
Apologies! Got side comments in the video. Not very professional, I know!
Spent New Year eve's eve at Glasgow, a good brother treated a few of us to watch Night at the Musuem at the Imax Theatre in the Glasgow Science Centre. It was absolutely fantastic! The generosity and graciousness of the people I've met here is so amazing sometimes! Went to look around Glasgow's shopping area. The sales by then had trickled down, so didnt buy anymore stuff (I know I'm sounding a bit girlish but hey, who doesnt like buying stuff man!)
New Year eve was spent at a friend's place as it was his birthday as well. We played a game called Citadel which is quite cool. We're all quite addicted to it cause we've subsequently played 2 more times and I believe there are many more to come:))
New Year day itself was spent playing mah jong, citadel and watching some movies... all indoor activities..again;)
Well, semester's starting again. Back to work again. Choosing my project next week. Hope to choose an interesting one. Postings would be reducing soon.
